Like many 20th-century artists, Steinberg was not immune to Cubism, to which he was exposed during his years at the Politecnico in the 1930s—“a comfortable school…under the influence of Cubism.”44 A Bertoldo cartoon includes a 1922 Picasso drawing on the background wall, while the 1945 Head certainly owes its profiled face to the master.45
“Arte pura,” Bertoldo, August 27, 1937. “I’m telling you, madame, for my watercolors I use eau de Cologne.”Head, 1945. Ink over pencil on paper, 14 ½ x 23 ¼ in. The Art Institute of Chicago; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation
Beginning in the 1960s, however, in a series of still lifes of desks and drawing tables, Steinberg put his own mark on one of the century’s defining styles.
Apr 12 1969, 1969. Rubber stamps, colored pencil, and pencil on paper, 22 ½ x 30 in. The Art Institute of Chicago; Gift of The Saul Steinberg FoundationBuenos Aires Table, 1969. Ink, colored pencil, pencil, oil, rubber stamps, and collage on paper, 22 ¾ x 28 ¾ in. Private collectionStill Life with Ledger, 1969. Colored pencil, crayon, rubber stamps, pencil, ink, and dental charts on paper, 13 ½ x 21 in. Cincinnati Art Museum; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.The New Yorker Airmail, 1974. Pencil, colored pencil, collage, and ink on paper, 19 ¾ x 25 5/8 in. National Gallery of Art, Prague; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.Early Works (Still Life Table), 1970. Tacks, cloth, metal plaque, oil, aluminum paint, carved wood, ink, crayon, rubber stamps, and pencil on wood panel, 15 ½ x 19 ½ in. Minneapolis Institute of Art; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.Easel and Palette, 1987. Mixed media on wood, 16 x 21 x 2 in. Private collectionUntitled, 1965. Pencil, ink, colored pencil, and collage on paper, 22 ¼ x 27 ½ in. Private collectionUntitled, 1975. Pencil, crayon, colored pencil, rubber stamps, punched holes, and collage on paper, 19 5/8 x 25 5/8 in. The Art Institute of Chicago; Gift of The Saul Steinberg FoundationNouvelles Russes, 1965. Ink and collage on paper, 19 ¾ x 29 ¾ in. Private collectionVia Aerea, 1969. Colored pencil, crayon, ink, watercolor, rubber stamps, and collage on paper, 20 1/2 x 27 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Gift of The Saul Steinberg Foundation.
“I play with Cubism to find out what it means….Cubism belongs to the beginning of the century. It’s impossible to re-do it. We are of our time. If I do Cubism now it’s obvious that I know too much. I’m not innocent the way they were. Mine is Cubism revisited.”46 To Steinberg, Cubism offered multiple means of pictorial construction, and his postwar visitations privilege no one Cubist mode. Rather, they became a personal journey through Cubism’s potential as a graphic language, a way of thinking pictorial thoughts.
